CINCINNATI — A Cincinnati man and woman were indicted Wednesday for throwing a Molotov cocktail-style device at a Winton Hills grocery store, said Kenneth L. Parker, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
Parker said Donald Donatelli, 28, and Angela Schweitzer, 35, were charged with conspiring to commit malicious damage and destruction of a building in interstate commerce. Donatelli was also charged in a second count for directly causing damage.
In November 2023, Tree Top Grocery was forced to close after what arson investigators called a firebombing. Co-owner Fesseha Tesfatsion was inside the store with his wife when someone set it on fire. CFD said the fire caused $300,000 worth of damage to the building.
Parker said around 10 p.m. on Nov. 26, Donatelli and Schweitzer drove to the store in a white BMW. Schweizter then moved to the driver's seat while Donatelli lit a Molotov cocktail-style device, opened the store's door and threw it inside. While he was doing so, Schweitzer allegedly filmed the firebombing on Snapchat.
Schweitzer was arrested in February and charged with two counts of aggravated arson to a person and one count of aggravated arson to an occupied structure following an investigation into the fire. Both her and Donatelli were moved over to federal custody.
After the fire, Tesfatsion said he was upset for his business, but he also cared for the people in the surrounding neighborhood for which his store is one of their few options.
"In here, many kids, they come in when they're hungry. They take stuff, they run away. It's understandable. But somebody throwing fire? Someone thinking like that? I don't think they're human," Tesfatsion said.
Tesfatsion was able to reopen the store months later in February.
READ MORE | Firebombed grocery store reopens in Winton Hills amid arson investigation
Customers like Courtney Logan were happy to return to the store that largely serves low-income walk-ins.
"Amazing. Love it," Logan said. "Right down the street, love it."
